Rumors of a Special Legislative Session
Rumors are circulating about a special legislative session to be convened before Thanksgiving to address a portion of the State’s projected $2 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year. Fixes are needed to continue agency operations that were impacted by the Governor’s vetoes in September.
"Understanding Your State Legislature" Workshops
You are invited to a FREE workshop designed to help demystify the legislative process for Phoenix residents. Choose one of two workshops that are being offered this fall before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Tuesday, November 17
5:30 - 7p.m.
Pecos Community Center
17010 S. 48th Street Thursday, November 19
5:30 - 7p.m
Maryvale Community Center
4420 N. 51st Ave.
Each workshop will present an overview of the legislative process and how to get involved in decisions being made at the State Legislature, as well as tips on effective lobbying techniques and how to use technology to track legislation. In addition, two state lawmakers have been invited to attend to offer advice on how to effectively communicate with your legislator and how the decisions they make impact your neighborhood.
Nov. 15 is the first day that prefiled bills can be "dropped." Both workshops present a good opportunity to learn more about this process from our guest legislators. Other topics to be covered at these events include:
How a bill becomes law in Arizona
How to follow bills and contact your representatives!
How to sign on and use the Phoenix Legislative Action Network (P.L.A.N.)
How to identify your state legislators and other elected officials using the P.L.A.N.
And more!
This free event is sponsored by the Phoenix Government Relations Office to encourage public involvement from neighborhood groups and residents in debating and developing public policy. We hope to see you there!
Source: P.L.A.N.
Register online now or call 602-262-1833 to reserve space for one of these free events. Seating is limited.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
planPHX - Big Question #2
IMAGINE PHOENIX IN 2050. WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Go to www.phoenix.gov/planphx and go to Events to find a Visioning Workshop during the month of November.
The Phoenix Central Neighborhood Association participates in the Encanto Village group.
Source: City of Phoenix Planning Department
Go to www.phoenix.gov/planphx and go to Events to find a Visioning Workshop during the month of November.
The Phoenix Central Neighborhood Association participates in the Encanto Village group.
Source: City of Phoenix Planning Department
Friday, October 23, 2009
State Budget Buzz
State Agencies Getting Ready for FY 2011, But 2010 Needs More Work
Last month the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) asked each state agency to identify potential actions that would reduce their spending next fiscal year by 15 percent. Some of those ideas and their impacts to state services have been in the news. The agency submittals are posted for public view on the OSPB web site at http://www.ospb.state.az.us/BudgetReports.asp. As you look them over, keep in mind that the lists are of potential actions for FY 11 - they have not been adopted and are intended as a planning tool.
Yesterday, the Finance Advisory Committee (FAC), a group of economic experts from areas such as the real estate and utilities industries as well as universities, met to discuss the overall economic environment and state revenue projections. Following that meeting, Richard Stavneak, Director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), shared a staff memorandum with members of the JLBC. The memo summarizes the state's FY 09 shortfall, FY 10 veto impact, FY 10 revenues and other FY 10 projections. Based on these elements, JLBC staff project that the FY 10 ending balance will fall short of the budget by $2 billion. View the entire Finance Advisory Committee Revenue and Budget Update Presentation of October 22, 2009 and more.
As the State's coffers are just about running on empty, there is more rumbling about the Governor calling a special legislative session to enact spending cuts and other adjustments in November or early December. Stay tuned.
Bad News Rolls Downhill
Included in yesterday's report was the sobering news that Urban Revenue Sharing (the part of Shared Revenue that comes from the state income tax) will decrease in FY 11 by $155 million due to sluggish income tax revenue in 2009. That means $47 million less for Phoenix than in FY 10. Income tax, sales tax and Highway User Fund revenues continue to lag behind last year. Shared Revenues typically represent between 30 and 40 percent of a city or town's general fund budget, and are spent primarily on police and fire services.
Phoenix is underway with our regular budget cycle, evaluating expenditures and preparing for potential reductions - reductions that would be made worse by any additional Shared Revenue sweeps by the State Legislature. Departments are examining their budgets for any possible savings that have emerged since the last budget planning cycle. So for now,
Remember to SHOP PHOENIX and tell your legislators to protect city revenues!
Source: P.L.A.N.
Last month the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) asked each state agency to identify potential actions that would reduce their spending next fiscal year by 15 percent. Some of those ideas and their impacts to state services have been in the news. The agency submittals are posted for public view on the OSPB web site at http://www.ospb.state.az.us/BudgetReports.asp. As you look them over, keep in mind that the lists are of potential actions for FY 11 - they have not been adopted and are intended as a planning tool.
Yesterday, the Finance Advisory Committee (FAC), a group of economic experts from areas such as the real estate and utilities industries as well as universities, met to discuss the overall economic environment and state revenue projections. Following that meeting, Richard Stavneak, Director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), shared a staff memorandum with members of the JLBC. The memo summarizes the state's FY 09 shortfall, FY 10 veto impact, FY 10 revenues and other FY 10 projections. Based on these elements, JLBC staff project that the FY 10 ending balance will fall short of the budget by $2 billion. View the entire Finance Advisory Committee Revenue and Budget Update Presentation of October 22, 2009 and more.
As the State's coffers are just about running on empty, there is more rumbling about the Governor calling a special legislative session to enact spending cuts and other adjustments in November or early December. Stay tuned.
Bad News Rolls Downhill
Included in yesterday's report was the sobering news that Urban Revenue Sharing (the part of Shared Revenue that comes from the state income tax) will decrease in FY 11 by $155 million due to sluggish income tax revenue in 2009. That means $47 million less for Phoenix than in FY 10. Income tax, sales tax and Highway User Fund revenues continue to lag behind last year. Shared Revenues typically represent between 30 and 40 percent of a city or town's general fund budget, and are spent primarily on police and fire services.
Phoenix is underway with our regular budget cycle, evaluating expenditures and preparing for potential reductions - reductions that would be made worse by any additional Shared Revenue sweeps by the State Legislature. Departments are examining their budgets for any possible savings that have emerged since the last budget planning cycle. So for now,
Remember to SHOP PHOENIX and tell your legislators to protect city revenues!
Source: P.L.A.N.
Monday, October 19, 2009
A Comment on Town Hall Meetings?
"We'll have a military dictatorship fairly soon, on the basis that nobody else can hold everything together. Obama would have been better off focusing on educating the American people.
His problem is being over-educated. He doesn't realize how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is."
Source: Gore Vidal
His problem is being over-educated. He doesn't realize how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is."
Source: Gore Vidal
Monday, October 12, 2009
Vote NO on Your School Override on Nov. 3rd
Half of the school districts in the state are holding override elections on November 3rd. (Early ballots have already been mailed to voters.) In some cases, school districts are asking taxpayers and voters for more money. In other cases, they are asking taxpayers and voters to maintain spending at current levels.
The truth is that your school district has plenty of taxpayer money--more than enough to pay for excellent teachers and good administration. The simple fact is that they are WASTING MUCH OF YOUR MONEY.
According to page 6 from the Annual Report of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, school districts in 2008 had revenues from all sources of $9,232,916,095:
http://www.azed.gov/annualreport/AnnualReport2008/Vol1.pdf
On page 8 of that report, you can see that Arizona school districts in 2008 had 951,117 students.
Do the math, and you find that Arizona school districts had resources of $9,707 per child.
(Beginning on page 58 of the superintendent’s report, you can look up the figures for specific school districts, which are organized by county and then in alphabetical order by district).
If your child’s average classroom has 25 students, that means there is $240,000 of resources in that classroom. Think about that for a moment.
There is enough money in your child’s classroom to pay your child’s teacher a very good annual salary-and-benefits package of $80,000.
There is enough money to also have a special education teacher assigned to those students, and to pay that individual $80,000 a year. And, there is enough money left over to dedicate $80,000 for administration, athletics, facilities, and other overhead.
The problem is that your district is mismanaging that money. Much of the blame goes to labor rules imposed by the teacher unions. Good teachers are not paid nearly enough, and bad teachers are not given the pink slips they deserve. Instead, under the union pay scale, good teachers and bad teachers are paid the same. Also, most school districts are very heavy on bureaucratic overhead. Further, Arizona’s school system has spent lavishly on capital projects.
Powerful lobbying groups, such as the Arizona Education Association and the Arizona School Boards Association, promote the BIG LIE that Arizona schools do not have enough resources. Your newspaper editorial boards then repeat that BIG LIE. They tell us that Arizona is 49th in the country in per-pupil spending. Even if Arizona was 49th in the country, $9,700 per child is more than enough money to give Arizona the best school system in the country.
Again, the problem is not a lack of money. The problem is mismanagement.
On November 3rd, when it comes time to vote on your school district’s override, do not be bamboozled by promises that more money will lead to increased student performance. There is no evidence whatsoever to support that notion. If you give more money to Arizona school districts, they will very likely continue to waste that money.
America ’s government schools have sucked up more and more money for decades. Since 1970 we have more than doubled per-pupil spending, in constant dollars. Sadly, we have very little (if anything) to show for those investments when it comes to student performance:
http://www.heritage.org/research/Education/images/b2179_chart4.gif
If your school district is asking to renew an existing override, do not be blackmailed by the myth that the result will be drastic spending cuts. Even school districts that are trying to renew full 15 percent overrides will lose less than ten percent of their budgets if the overrides fail.
Even with a 20-percent budget cut, there would still be enough money in the average district to provide for an excellent education. Instead of an $80,000 salary package, the available resources in your child’s classroom could support a teacher and a special ed instructor at $64,000 each, leaving $64,000 per classroom for administration, athletics, facilities, and other overhead.
Charter schools in Arizona received $7,844 per child in 2008. That is 20 percent less than district schools. And yet, charter schools have proven to do a better job of educating kids, including disadvantaged student populations:
http://www.nber.org/~schools/charterschoolseval/
Further, many Arizona private schools provide an excellent education for tuition of less than $5,000 per year:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/1851
There are proven ways to improve school performance, but they do NOT involve giving lots of money to mismanaged school districts. For ideas, start in Florida:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/2577
The bottom line is that we need more education for our tax dollars, not more tax dollars for education.
Please join me in voting NO on the November 3rd school overrides.
Source:
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
The truth is that your school district has plenty of taxpayer money--more than enough to pay for excellent teachers and good administration. The simple fact is that they are WASTING MUCH OF YOUR MONEY.
According to page 6 from the Annual Report of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, school districts in 2008 had revenues from all sources of $9,232,916,095:
http://www.azed.gov/annualreport/AnnualReport2008/Vol1.pdf
On page 8 of that report, you can see that Arizona school districts in 2008 had 951,117 students.
Do the math, and you find that Arizona school districts had resources of $9,707 per child.
(Beginning on page 58 of the superintendent’s report, you can look up the figures for specific school districts, which are organized by county and then in alphabetical order by district).
If your child’s average classroom has 25 students, that means there is $240,000 of resources in that classroom. Think about that for a moment.
There is enough money in your child’s classroom to pay your child’s teacher a very good annual salary-and-benefits package of $80,000.
There is enough money to also have a special education teacher assigned to those students, and to pay that individual $80,000 a year. And, there is enough money left over to dedicate $80,000 for administration, athletics, facilities, and other overhead.
The problem is that your district is mismanaging that money. Much of the blame goes to labor rules imposed by the teacher unions. Good teachers are not paid nearly enough, and bad teachers are not given the pink slips they deserve. Instead, under the union pay scale, good teachers and bad teachers are paid the same. Also, most school districts are very heavy on bureaucratic overhead. Further, Arizona’s school system has spent lavishly on capital projects.
Powerful lobbying groups, such as the Arizona Education Association and the Arizona School Boards Association, promote the BIG LIE that Arizona schools do not have enough resources. Your newspaper editorial boards then repeat that BIG LIE. They tell us that Arizona is 49th in the country in per-pupil spending. Even if Arizona was 49th in the country, $9,700 per child is more than enough money to give Arizona the best school system in the country.
Again, the problem is not a lack of money. The problem is mismanagement.
On November 3rd, when it comes time to vote on your school district’s override, do not be bamboozled by promises that more money will lead to increased student performance. There is no evidence whatsoever to support that notion. If you give more money to Arizona school districts, they will very likely continue to waste that money.
America ’s government schools have sucked up more and more money for decades. Since 1970 we have more than doubled per-pupil spending, in constant dollars. Sadly, we have very little (if anything) to show for those investments when it comes to student performance:
http://www.heritage.org/research/Education/images/b2179_chart4.gif
If your school district is asking to renew an existing override, do not be blackmailed by the myth that the result will be drastic spending cuts. Even school districts that are trying to renew full 15 percent overrides will lose less than ten percent of their budgets if the overrides fail.
Even with a 20-percent budget cut, there would still be enough money in the average district to provide for an excellent education. Instead of an $80,000 salary package, the available resources in your child’s classroom could support a teacher and a special ed instructor at $64,000 each, leaving $64,000 per classroom for administration, athletics, facilities, and other overhead.
Charter schools in Arizona received $7,844 per child in 2008. That is 20 percent less than district schools. And yet, charter schools have proven to do a better job of educating kids, including disadvantaged student populations:
http://www.nber.org/~schools/charterschoolseval/
Further, many Arizona private schools provide an excellent education for tuition of less than $5,000 per year:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/1851
There are proven ways to improve school performance, but they do NOT involve giving lots of money to mismanaged school districts. For ideas, start in Florida:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article/2577
The bottom line is that we need more education for our tax dollars, not more tax dollars for education.
Please join me in voting NO on the November 3rd school overrides.
Source:
Tom Jenney
Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Phoenix General Plan Update available for download
The Phoenix Central Neighborhood Association has requested the City of Phoenix Planning Department to make its presentation about the General Plan Update available online for download.
Click here to download a copy of this presentation.
FYI: It's a 4.6MB pdf.
Source: City of Phoenix
Click here to download a copy of this presentation.
FYI: It's a 4.6MB pdf.
Source: City of Phoenix
Friday, October 2, 2009
You Make the Difference for Phoenix
Sales Tax Revenue Continues to Slide
As sales tax revenue dips ever deeper throughout the state, Phoenix is challenged to maintain and improve services. For the two-month period of July and August, city sales tax revenue was down 17.1% from the prior year. This trend makes revenue sharing more important than ever to our community. When you talk to your state representatives, remind them that revenue sharing keeps your city strong and safe. Contact information for legislators is available on the P.L.A.N. website.
But there's more you can do. Remember to "shop Phoenix." When you buy from retailers within the city, your money stays in the community and supports funding for local police, fire, libraries and parks. Everyone can be a part of maintaining essential city services through their shopping choices. Great local shopping destinations can be found at phoenix.gov/ECONDEV/shopphx.pdf
And there's still more you can do. In response to citizen requests for maintaining services on a reduced budget, Phoenix created the Community Involvement Web page where volunteer opportunities including Block Watch, Phoenix Police Reserve Program, Phoenix Boards and Commissions and other programs are featured. To learn more, visit phoenix.gov/residents/community/index.html.
Neighborhood Services Busting Blight
Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) is hard at work engaging the local community to clean up graffiti and litter. Blight Busters volunteer to help keep their neighborhoods and major thoroughfares:
Clean of graffiti;
Clean of illegal signs;
Clean of litter; and
Clean of shopping carts
Residents who want to get involved can find more details at phoenix.gov/NBHDPGMS/grafbust.html.
Arizona’s Involved in Neighborhoods
Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods (G.A.I.N.) is Arizona's answer to National Night Out, which is held around the country in August. Because of Arizona's 105+ August temperatures, communities statewide decided to observe National Night Out on October 17 and call it G.A.I.N. The events celebrate crime prevention successes achieved through community involvement by Block Watches, apartment complexes, neighborhood groups, parks, businesses, etc. across Phoenix.
Who: Block Watches, apartment complexes, neighborhood groups, parks, businesses, etc.
What: Celebration of the crime prevention successes through community involvement
Where: Local neighborhoods
When: Saturday, October 17
Tips for planning a G.A.I.N. party are available at phoenix.gov/police/gain_tips_2009.pdf.
G.A.I.N. Hyperlink: phoenix.gov/police/gain1.html
Source: P.L.A.N.
As sales tax revenue dips ever deeper throughout the state, Phoenix is challenged to maintain and improve services. For the two-month period of July and August, city sales tax revenue was down 17.1% from the prior year. This trend makes revenue sharing more important than ever to our community. When you talk to your state representatives, remind them that revenue sharing keeps your city strong and safe. Contact information for legislators is available on the P.L.A.N. website.
But there's more you can do. Remember to "shop Phoenix." When you buy from retailers within the city, your money stays in the community and supports funding for local police, fire, libraries and parks. Everyone can be a part of maintaining essential city services through their shopping choices. Great local shopping destinations can be found at phoenix.gov/ECONDEV/shopphx.pdf
And there's still more you can do. In response to citizen requests for maintaining services on a reduced budget, Phoenix created the Community Involvement Web page where volunteer opportunities including Block Watch, Phoenix Police Reserve Program, Phoenix Boards and Commissions and other programs are featured. To learn more, visit phoenix.gov/residents/community/index.html.
Neighborhood Services Busting Blight
Phoenix’s Neighborhood Services Department (NSD) is hard at work engaging the local community to clean up graffiti and litter. Blight Busters volunteer to help keep their neighborhoods and major thoroughfares:
Clean of graffiti;
Clean of illegal signs;
Clean of litter; and
Clean of shopping carts
Residents who want to get involved can find more details at phoenix.gov/NBHDPGMS/grafbust.html.
Arizona’s Involved in Neighborhoods
Getting Arizona Involved in Neighborhoods (G.A.I.N.) is Arizona's answer to National Night Out, which is held around the country in August. Because of Arizona's 105+ August temperatures, communities statewide decided to observe National Night Out on October 17 and call it G.A.I.N. The events celebrate crime prevention successes achieved through community involvement by Block Watches, apartment complexes, neighborhood groups, parks, businesses, etc. across Phoenix.
Who: Block Watches, apartment complexes, neighborhood groups, parks, businesses, etc.
What: Celebration of the crime prevention successes through community involvement
Where: Local neighborhoods
When: Saturday, October 17
Tips for planning a G.A.I.N. party are available at phoenix.gov/police/gain_tips_2009.pdf.
G.A.I.N. Hyperlink: phoenix.gov/police/gain1.html
Source: P.L.A.N.
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